REVELATION OF ST. JOHN THE DIVINE - Chapter 9 - Verse 1

CHAPTER IX

ANALYSIS OF THE CHAPTER

THE three remaining trumpets (chap. 9-11.) are usually called the
woe-trumpets, in reference to the proclamation of woes, Re 8:13.
—Prof. Stuart. The three extend, as I suppose, to the end of time,
or, as it is supposed by the writer himself, (Re 11:15,) to the
period when "the kingdoms of this world shall have become the
kingdoms of Christ," embracing a succinct view of the most material
events that were to occur, particularly in a secular point of view. See
the Analysis prefixed to the book. In Re 11:19, as I understand
it, a new view is commenced, referring to the church internally; the
rise of Antichrist, and the effect of the rise of that formidable power
on the internal history of the church, to the time of its overthrow, and
the triumphant establishment of the kingdom of God. This, of course,
synchronizes in its beginning and its close with the portion already
passed over, but with a different view. See the Analysis prefixed to
Re 11:19, seq.

This chapter contains properly three parts. First, a description of
the first of those trumpets, or the fifth in the order of the whole,
Re 9:1-12. This woe is represented under the figure of calamities
brought upon the earth by an immense army of locusts. A star is
seen to fall from heaven—representing some mighty chieftain, and to
him is given the key of the bottomless pit. He opens the pit, and
then comes forth an innumerable swarm of locusts that darken the
heavens, and they go forth upon the earth. They have a command
given them to do a certain work. They are not to hurt the earth, or
any green thing, but they are sent against those men which have not
the seal of God on their foreheads. Their main business, however,
was not to kill them, but to torment them for a limited time—for five
months. A description of the appearance of the locusts then follows.
Though they are called locusts, because in their general appearance,
and in the ravages they commit, they resemble them, yet, in the
main, they are imaginary beings, and combine in themselves qualities
which are never found united in reality. They had a strong resemblance to
horses prepared for battle; they wore on their heads crowns of gold; they
had the faces of men, but the hair of women, and the teeth of lions. They
had breastplates of iron, and tails like scorpions, with stings in their
tails. They had a mighty king at their head, with a name significant of
the destruction which he would bring upon the world. These mysterious
beings had their origin in the bottomless pit, and they are summoned
forth to spread desolation upon the earth. Second, a description of the
second of these trumpets, the sixth in order, Re 9:13-19. When this
is sounded, a voice is heard from the four horns of the altar which is
before God. The angel is commanded to loose the four angels which are
bound in the great river Euphrates. These angels are loosed—angels which
had been prepared for a definite period—a day, and a month, and a year,
to slay the third part of men. The number of the army that would
appear—composed of cavalry—is stated to amount to two hundred
thousand, and the peculiarities of these horsemen are then stated.
They are remarkable for having breastplates of fire, and jacinth, and
brimstone; the heads of the horses resemble lions; and they breathe
forth fire and brimstone. A third part of men fall before them, by
the fire, and the smoke, and the brimstone. Their power is in their
mouth and in their tails, for their tails are like serpents. Third, a
statement of the effect of the judgments brought upon the world
under these trumpets, Re 19:20,21. The effect, so far as the
reasonable result could have been anticipated, is lost. The nations are
not turned from idolatry. Wickedness still abounds, and there is no
disposition to repent of the abominations which had been so long
practised on the earth.

And I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth. This denotes,
as was shown in the See Barnes "Re 8:10, a leader, a military
chieftain, a warrior. In the fulfilment of this, as in the former case,
we look for the appearance of some mighty prince and warrior, to whom is
given power, as it were, to open the bottomless pit, and to summon forth
its legions. That some such agent is denoted by the star is
farther apparent from the fact that it is immediately added, that
"to him [the star] was given the key of the bottomless pit." It
could not be meant that a key would be given to a literal star,
and we naturally suppose, therefore, that some intelligent being of
exalted rank, and of baleful influence, is here referred to. Angels,
good and bad, are often called stars; but the reference here, as in
Re 8:10, seems to me not to be to angels, but to some mighty
leader of armies, who was to collect his hosts, and to go through the
world in the work of destruction.

And to him was given the key of the bottomless pit. Of the
under-world, considered particularly of the abode of the wicked.
This is represented often as a dark prison-house, enclosed with walls,
and accessible by gates or doors. These gates or doors are fastened,
so that none of the inmates can come out, and the key is in the hand
of the keeper or guardian. In Re 1:18, it is said that the keys of
that world are in the hand of the Saviour,
(compare See Barnes "Re 1:18") here it is said that for a time,
and for a temporary purpose, they are committed to another. The word
pit—frear—denotes properly a well, or a pit for water dug in
the earth; and then any pit, cave, abyss. The reference here is doubtless
to the nether world, considered as the abode of the wicked dead, the
prison-house of the guilty. The word bottomless, abussov— whence
our word abyss—means properly without any bottom, (from a,
pr., and buyov, depth, bottom.) It would be applied properly to
the ocean, or to any deep and dark dell, or to any obscure place whose
depth was, unknown. Here it refers to Hades—the region of the dead—the
abode of wicked spirits—as a deep, dark place whose bottom was unknown.
Having the key to this, is to have the power to confine those who are
there, or to permit them to go at large. The meaning here is, that this
master-spirit would have power to evoke the dead from these dark
regions; and it would be fulfilled if some mighty genius, that could
be compared with a fallen star, or a lurid meteor, should summon
forth followers which would appear like the dwellers in the nether
world called forth to spread desolation over the earth.